”And that Texas team is as good as anybody. Texas can win a National Championship.”

ESPN’s cameras caught Greg Kampe’s reactions when he learned Texas was a No. 4 seed. His was some mixture of shock and, yes, a little fear. He’d gotten North Carolina in 2005 and Pitt last year. The Selection Committee couldn’t do it to him again, could it?

Moments later, he learned otherwise. After losing to Texas, after pushing Texas and making Texas sweat, he still couldn’t overcome Texas, he choked back tears and talked about how special this group of players was.

”I’m really not sure what to say. In 2005 we played Carolina who won the National Championship and made a joke about we picked a bad day to play Carolina, you know, like that old airplane movie. Last year I was upset about the way we finished against Pitt, and I watch coaches at these things and how they look like they’re going to cry and die and all that. And it is a tough business.

”But I’m going to tell you something, I love this basketball team. It was a great year for Oakland University, just a great year. So I guess I’m going to cry too, because I hate that it’s over, because this is a really good basketball team.

”It’s a team that I thought could have done something in this tournament, and we just got a bad draw. We play everybody in the country. I know who is good, and I know who isn’t. And that Texas team is as good as anybody. Texas can win a National Championship, and I don’t put that on Rick that way. I think Texas is good because of him. He’s one of the best coaches there is. They defend like unbelievable.

”But we’ve played those teams. And Ohio State and them, they’re right there neck and neck. And I think Ohio State is the No. 1 pick or seed in this tournament. We’ve played them both, and they’re a great team.

What can I say? We played a team that can win the National Championship, and we did everything we thought we could do. We didn’t make enough shots…

Texas led virtually the entire game, and at times seemed close to putting Oakland away. But Oakland kept making runs, kept staying just close enough to have a chance at the end.

Rick Barnes praised Oakland effusively, and it wasn’t just the praise of a coach who’d dodged a bullet.

”If there is any team program that really got a bad deal, it was Oakland,” he said. ”One, I’ve seen them. Great respect for Greg. He does it right. His teams play hard. I’m telling you, we just won a game against an outstanding team. When you have the kind of year they have and you go out and play the non-league schedule that they play, because a lot of teams won’t do that, and then you make the run that you make through your league, he’s been there a long time. He’s a great coach and he’s got great respect.

”But when that came up everybody looks at seeds and I wasn’t going to talk about where we were because I’m not concerned about that. But I did tell our coaches if anybody got a bad deal in this deal it was Oakland. I look at them and believe me, they would finish in our league in the top half.

”With that said, again, we just won a game against an outstanding team. A team that’s tough, hard-nosed and not going away. We knew they’d fight. We could be a little better at the end, but you’ve got to give them credit for that, because again, I kept telling our team they’re not going to go away. They stayed with it, but it was a nice win for us.”